


Sanctuary

by TheNarcolepticOne



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Day 1: Cozy, Day 4: Weather, Gen, Rain, Weather, aphfallfandomweek2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 02:59:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16255295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNarcolepticOne/pseuds/TheNarcolepticOne
Summary: It's in the middle of a rainstorm when Alfred gets an unexpected visitor who had been missing in action for the last couple weeks.





	Sanctuary

**Author's Note:**

> This story was meant for the [aphfallfandomweek](https://aphfallfandomweek.tumblr.com/) but I was too caught up with school work to be able to post anything relevant within the first 3 days. I'll post those days sometime later (but I'm cheating this entry to count both as Day 1 and Day 4 since it's relevant LOL). 
> 
> Expect some new stories finally seeing the light sometime soon; I'm getting back into the writing mood again, but out of practice enough to not be able to participate in NaNoWriMo.
> 
> This story was formatted and edited over an old Omegle RP in 2012. Feeling old yet?

Alfred was absolutely bored 

The storm had completely defeated his short-term plan of staying home for the weekend and completing his planned Achievement Hunter video game marathon. But the lightning had gotten the better of this plan, and Alfred groaned, rolling over on the couch. 

Thankfully, his phone was still at a solid 91%, which indicated that he was still able to answer some of his students’ emails. But Alfred already had a rule in place that physically disallowed him from answering such emails: he worked his ass off so much in the week that he kept that rule strictly followed to stop himself from accidentally forgetting to eat his meals again. Treating himself was not a practice that he felt accustomed to, but he was forcing it upon himself before he ended up too focused for the next 18 hours.

But that didn’t necessarily solve his primary dilemma: Alfred was still _bored._ There was nothing in the house that he felt he could physically do, and honestly killing his phone off would be the worst thing that he could end up doing right about now. So, for now, Alfred had decidedly turned off the phone’s LTE status and let it sit silently in his pocket while he waited impatiently on the couch for the storm to end. 

Alfred could hear the rustling of the fall leaves outside, with the rain hitting his window like a coordinated attack. It caused instances of randomized droplets to hit his window. This was paired with the wind as if it were knocking gently on Alfred’s door to open it for him. And Alfred mentally exhausted himself thinking about all the leaves he would have to rake up later.

Alfred exhaled through his noise quietly, turning over to lay on his side as he stared at the television. Come on, Jones. Where was the creativity he had when he was a kid? What would his 8-year-old self even do in this situation to make it less boring?

After having almost talked himself to make a pillow fort, Alfred sat up at the sound of angry knocking on his door that didn’t sound at all like the weather outside. He blinked, sitting up as he stared in the direction of the sound. He tugged his phone out of his pocket for 2 seconds to read the time. 

_10:49 PM_

Alfred frowned. Well great. This was the most opportune time for someone to rob his house, isn’t it? In the middle of a rainstorm? Where no one would hear his screams...  
The knock was heard again, causing Alfred to jump. In an instant, he stood up, grabbing his University sweatshirt on the couch as he made his way to the door.

“I’m coming,” he called to the door lazily. ‘Oh well,’ Alfred thought. Honestly, if a person did come to rob his house directly, it would at least give him something to do. Maybe he put those PUBG skills to the test. Something. Anything.

Using his phone, he turned on the flashlight, opening the front door and shining the light down on the man’s feet. The wind almost blew the door enough to slam into the wall, had Alfred not caught it.

The light had made it a lot easier for Alfred to see his visitor’s face; it was one that looked too adjusted to the darkness enough to cringe from the sight of the brightness.

“Oh!” Alfred smiled, turning the phone away from the other. Not a robber. “Hey, Arthur. I didn’t expect that you’d be here.”

“Of course not,” Arthur murmured irritably. His rain matted hair had a scent of earth to it as he pushed past Alfred quickly to get into the house and out of the rain. Without permission. Alfred closed the door as he locked it tightly with three locks for good measure, though a bit bothered by the sudden intrusion.

“Nice to see you too,” Alfred said tiredly back, going to follow him.

The Englishman hung his coat on the side of the leather couch that Alfred had lain on earlier, dripping rain all over onto it. Alfred rolled his eyes, retrieving scooping the coat up and bringing it to the clothing rack he had next to the door to let it drip dry there instead. When Alfred returned, Arthur was found lying on the couch where he previously was, and exactly the same position Alfred was too.

“Okay, time out,” Alfred said suddenly, arms crossing as he went to then go up to Arthur. He couldn’t quite see his face well in the darkness, so he grabbed his phone and shined it directly into his face. It caused the other to wince, holding a hand up to cover the beam. 

It’s from this decision that Alfred was able to see that Arthur looked absolutely tired and at the same time, soaked. His clothes were sticking to his skin and his face looked absolutely pale from being outside. The raindrops that were on his face were reflected from the light, and it showed just how _drenched_ he was.

But this did not make Alfred any more sympathetic.

“Dude. I know I said you were welcome into my house anytime,” Alfred said exasperatedly. “But literally crashing inside of my house without even explaining what the fuck happened to you in the first place... I could report you for trespassing.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Arthur apologized laxly as he kept swatting the light uselessly away. Alfred turned off the light and Arthur opened his eyes again to meet Alfred’s, revealing half-lidded, unfocused eyes. “I wouldn’t have come here if I had known your power was out. But I didn’t know where else to go.”

Alfred sighed loudly at that response. “Come on. I was going to take a shower before the water got cold later. But I guess you can have it. I don’t want your dirty germs all over this place or else Matt’ll have my head next time he visits.”

“Right.”

With a heave, Arthur eventually got up from the seat, wobbling a little in his stance on the way out of the living room. Alfred caught him before he was able to lose his footing, arm around his shoulder as he began to help him stand up straight.

“Okay,” Alfred exhaled as he began to help him step by step. “So, you’re getting fatigued from being outside in the rain for too long. How long were you even out there?”

“Oh, you know,” Arthur sounded hoarse when he began to speak again. “A few hours.”

 _“Hours?”_ Alfred almost shouted incredulously. But before he could inquire more, Arthur began to wobble again, causing him to stumble with him to catch him. And with some effort, the two of them made it to the bathroom. Alfred set his phone flashlight on and placed the device on the sink counter. It’s then that he began to start smelling something else faint from Arthur’s breath. Alfred deadpanned.

“You’re drunk, aren’t you.”

“A little.”

Alfred just let Arthur sit down on the toilet as he began the water and gathered towels. It was a thunderous noise that rivaled that from the rumbling outside.

“Why?”

“Stress. Why else would anyone drink?” Arthur snorted, leaning back against the toilet seat frame as he watched Alfred tiredly.

“Well yeah. But everyone has a reason.” Alfred said passively, pulling the knob to turn the shower on. He let Arthur undress, though he was familiar with helping him if he needed. Alfred’s brother hadn’t been too much different in high school with his marijuana addiction; always lethargic and slow.

“Alistair,” he said as he got into the tub as if it were an explanation. Alfred closed the curtain and sat on the toilet seat, finally taking a moment to catch his breath before waiting for him to finish. The sounds of flowing water were heard against the curtain, just like the windows. 

“He finally kicked me out,” Arthur finally clarified. The sound of a stressed, squeezing bottle was heard. “Gave him a good shiner for being a selfish spaz and letting his girlfriend take advantage of him again. She’s ugly too.”

“... well, no wonder why he kicked you out.” Alfred commented. “You know you don’t just call your brother’s girlfriend anything worse than ‘a bitch’ and expect to get away from it without an injury.”

“He deserved it though!” Arthur complained. “He’s been playing into her selfish demands like he doesn’t have his own sense of restraint. I already told him off once about it and he didn’t want to fix the problem. Kept saying that _I_ was the problem.”

The water shut off immediately and instinctively, Alfred tossed in a towel from the top of the curtain. Arthur grabbed it.

“Well, anyway,” Arthur continued as he pulled the curtain open and stepped out; towel wrapped around him comfortably. “I was hoping to get to Francis’ by bus. But I had the unfortunate luck of standing outside for a good thirty minutes before decidedly walking here for an additional 2 hours.”

Alfred frowned. Hmm.

Alistair and Arthur had shared an apartment together in the hopes of saving some money and the trouble of putting up with a new roommate who might potentially be a worse candidate. But Arthur had eventually been unable to keep up with the pay, last Alfred had heard. The University’s English Department recently began some budget cuts that were more than just a few thousand dollars. And because of this, Arthur had gotten the short end of the stick and was fired immediately, even after recently being hired for the last few months.

Which was a waste, honestly. Arthur had become a quick favorite amongst others in the department. But since getting fired, Arthur hadn’t been himself lately. And Alfred knew that his own choice of words of ‘my house is open for you’ seemed appropriate at the time. And he definitely needed that help, evidently.

Alfred, as well as Alistair, didn’t think it would take this long for Arthur to find a job, of course. But after about two weeks, Arthur stopped texting Alfred on updates. Alfred already assumed the Englishman had gone away to a different state by then, or even back to England.

Alfred stretched his legs in the seat as he went to retrieve the clothes for him. Arthur followed his stance a bit better after the shower.

“Sorry I ain’t got nothing to entertain you with; power being out and all.”

Arthur shivered visibly as Alfred went to his bedroom, swinging the closet open. Inside was a stockpile of University-sponsored clothing but a healthy amount of professional wear which were reserved for when he had to teach.

“Perhaps it was a bad idea to come to your place in this weather,” Arthur was heard grumbling, trapping his hands under his armpits in an attempt to keep warm as well as keep the towel around him. “And I assume that means you aren’t spending your weekend on your consoles again?”

Alfred practically threw his sweatshirt and striped pajama pants at Arthur, letting it plop against his face.

“I don’t wanna hear you start disrespecting me after I just let you use my shower,” Alfred huffed. “And video games are completely valid as a way to relieve stress. You know. Instead of drinking.”

“Touché.” Arthur agreed as he took the sweater and wrestled the sweater on. But even after this, he was still visibly shivering.

“You’re still cold?”

“No.”

“Yeah, no. I’ll be right back.”

Shutting the closet door, he began for the living room again, opening up a drawer right next to the fireplace that held a stash of ridiculously thick blankets reserved only for the winter. Arthur trailed behind again like a lost puppy.

“Even now, you still don’t like to listen to me,” Arthur murmured, sitting back on the couch. “But thank you.”

“I never like listening to stubborn people anyway,” Alfred retorted back. “And you’re welcome.”

Alfred went over to sit next to him, now realizing that he was starting back again at square one and staring at his blank television screen. After a few moments, Arthur interrupted the silence.

“Well? Aren’t _you_ cold?

“It’s not like I was out in a storm,” Alfred snapped back, already irritated that Arthur was still talking.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Right. Then what exactly were you even doing here before I got here? I was hoping at least you could think of _something_ for us to do.”

“How should I know?” Alfred was annoyed now. “I wasn’t expecting company before you got here. All I really did was sit here and planned to wait until the power went back on. Or maybe make a pillow fort.”

“Well, that’s hardly anything productive. I would have thought someone like you would stay organized. I mean. You’re the one who still has a job.”

Alfred ran a hand through his hair and groaned. The last thing he wanted as a fight with Arthur when he was being unreasonable and tipsy.

“You know, I could also kick you out too.”

“I know.”

Silence followed.

“Have you any flashlights?”

Alfred closed his eyes. “No batteries.”

“Not even the batteries?” Arthur gawked. “I thought you were the engineer type and owned at _least_ a few backups.”

“Geez, keep your voice down,” Alfred flinched, turning his head to face the other. Despite the harshness of Arthur’s voice, he was found leaned back against the chair with the recliner up, eyes closed. He still looked angry, even with his eyebrows furrowed.

“And I was going to get some tomorrow the next time I went shopping,” Alfred continued. “Which was going to be tomorrow. My bad that I didn’t know the power would get blown out by tonight."

“That’s entirely inexcusable,” 

“Like I said, how was I supposed to know that I needed batteries the day before I planned to get the fucking batteries?”

Arthur opened his eyes again, staring at the ceiling a moment before turning his gaze to Alfred’s. Alfred briefly wondered how he even had the energy to retaliate responses being so sluggish.

“Then do you want to talk then?”

“Huh?”

“It’s an idea,” Arthur sighed. “Sorry. I’ve just been... very quiet about everything for a while. At home with Alistair. I just want to talk. You’re the first person who’s actually held a civil conversation with me within the last week.”

Alfred sighed. “Every time we talk, it ends up in a fight, remember? Back at the coffee shop when we hung out after work?”

“Well, fighting is at least something to do, isn’t it?” Arthur remarked. And Alfred couldn’t help but actually crack a smile at that.

“That’s true.”

It’s at this moment that Arthur was seen moving again, turning to meet Alfred’s face as he shifted in his lain position to look at him. Alfred just pulled his feet up, looking at Arthur curiously.  
“... so,” Arthur began first. “What’s been going on with your life?” 

“Not a whole lot,” Alfred admitted, leaning his head on the side with the cushion. “Organizing my teaching schedule. Playing video games. Sitting around.”

Arthur crinkled his nose. “And eating at McDonald’s?” 

“Well, not so much. I haven’t been feeling like leaving the house lately. Hard to when all the budget cuts keep happening and all your colleagues move away from you. Friends are hard to make.”

“I didn’t take you for the type to be avoiding the opportunity being social. Why?”

Alfred averted his gaze, staring at the blank television. “I just haven’t been in the mood. Do I need to have a reason?”

“Rationally,” Arthur was heard shuffling in his seat. “But I mean. Me myself as a bit of an introvert, I can’t necessarily condone you for wanting time to yourself. I would much rather spend the time reading on weekends than attempting to find a teaching job.”

“Well, reading makes you a lot smarter and all that jazz, so I don’t really think it’s a waste of time.”

Arthur yawned. “Perhaps.”  
“Sleepy?”

“A little. I’m still cold.”

“Still??” Alfred sat up. “Well, I don’t know how many blankets you need, Art. But...” his eyes went to the fireplace. And in a few minutes went to collect some paper and a lighter.

Arthur, sensing what Alfred was doing, eyed the man around the pace of the room. And when Arthur noticed the fire, he began to stare at it.

Alfred blew onto it, starting it enough to begin a flame. Arthur got up, going over to the fire and sitting on the rugged floor. And Alfred went to sit down next to him, staring at it. And after a while, the flame built itself up to get larger, warmer.

“It’s really cozy,” Arthur mentioned, keeping his gaze on the light. But not before giving Alfred a look.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Let’s go find you a job tomorrow, okay?”

“You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“Hey,” Alfred gave him a serious look. “You’re staying at my house so my rules.”

Arthur couldn’t help but feel himself smile at that. “... you’re too good for your own good, you know that.”

“So, I’ve been told. But I heard downtown, they opened up a new elementary school. Wanna go check that out?”

“Maybe,” Arthur sniffled as he rubbed his nose. The congestion was starting. “Though, I’m not good with kids.”

“Kids are a lot better to handle. At least they act their age. It’s more frustrating to deal with adults acting like kids in a college classroom.”

Arthur laughed. “Honestly.”

Alfred smiled back, eventually giving Arthur a light punch to his shoulder. Arthur stayed smiling now. 

“I’m here for you, dude.” 

“I’m very grateful for it. Thank you.” 

“But also, if the power doesn’t come back on by the morning, I’ll blame you for taking all the hot water in the shower.”

Arthur’s smile faded. “Fair enough.”

**Author's Note:**

> _Posted October 10, 2018_


End file.
